Monday, February 22, 2016 8:41 am

Pseudoephedrine, captive hunting bills advance

Niki Kelly | The Journal Gazette

INDIANAPOLIS -- The House Public Health Committee voted 6-5 Monday to tighten access to pseudephedrine, a key ingredient used to make meth.

The committee essentially put language that passed the House from House Bill 1390 into Senate Bill 80.

Nothing would change for Hoosiers with an existing relationship with a pharmacy. They could still buy as much Sudafed or Mucinex D as currently allowed by law.

If you aren't covered that way, the pharmacist or pharmacy technician can offer you tamper-resistant pseudoephedrine, which is slightly more expensive but meth cooks can't break it down.

If the person doesn't trust that product, they can receive 24 small tablets of 30mg pseudoephedrine to get someone through an acute situation. If the person refuses all those options, they must get a prescription.

The bill also allows a pharmacist to deny the sale of ephedrine or pseudoephedrine on the basis of the pharmacist's professional judgment, and provides the pharmacist with civil immunity for making such a denial.

The bill now moves to the full Indiana House.

Captive hunting to full House

The House Natural Resources Committee voted 8-4 Monday to impose modest regulations on high-fenced hunting operations in the state.

There are seven such facilities, in which farm-raised deer bred for large racks are hunted for money on fenced properties. But the bill would allow for many more to open.

Senate Bill 109 sets acreage minimums -- 100 acres for new and 80 acres for grandfathered facilities -- as well as some prohibitions, such as hunting with drones or within 24 hours after a deer has been sedated.

Various fees are set up in the bill as well, and the Indiana Board of Animal Health is given all oversight jurisdiction.

"I think this bill is a good compromise to put common-sense regulations in place," said Rep. Sean Eberhart, R-Shelbyville.

Area lawmakers in support were Rep. David Wolkins, R-Warsaw, and Rep. Chris Judy, R-Fort Wayne.